~ ~ Lautreamont

It stands to reason that self-righteous, inflexible, single-minded, authoritarian true believers are politically organized. Open-minded, flexible, complex, ambiguous, anti-authoritarian people would just as soon be left to mind their own fucking business.

~ ~ R.U. Sirius, from How To Mutate & Take Over The World

I'd go down on a leper if I thought it would end the Viet Nam war.

~ ~ Mick Jagger, 1968

http://www.revolting.com/


-- According to Gore Vidal's memoir *Palimpcest*, John & Bobby K. privately referred to Baldwin as "Martin Luther Queen." --


-- "Hawk's Nest Coal Company Strike, January 1880" "`Tell the Boys to Fall in Line'" ... 32/4/224 "A Judicious Mixture: Negroes & Immigrants in the West Virginia Mines, 1880-1917" ... 34/2/141 "`Grim Visaged Men' & the West Virginia National Guard in the 1912-13 Paint & Cabin Creek Strike" ... 41/2/111 "A Temptation to Lawlessness: Peonage in West V http://www.wvlc.wvnet.edu/history/journal_wvh/wvh50-2.html


-- zippo tricks http://home.sol.no/~mkjoelbe/nn/home.html


-- THIS PAGE NEEDS TO CONVERTED OVER TO JANUARY REFERENCE PAGE, 01REF, IF HT HASN'T BEEN ALREADY http://www.recollectionbooks.com/bleed/0123b.htm#1783 ALSO THERE ARE A FEW OTHER POINTERS IN THE BLEED TO THIS URL http://www.recollectionbooks.com/bleed/0123b.htm#1783
www.eskimo.com/~recall/bleed/0123.htm recollectionbooks.com/bleed/0306.htm ecollectionbooks.com/bleed/images/BB/1104.htm


-- "History is made at night. Character is what you are in the dark." — Lord John Whorfin, "The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai: Across the 8th Dimension"



-- Ruggiero Romano. (1923-2002) dies, Paris, France. École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. I do not locate myself, because I am an individualistic anarchist... & my model of society is with an almost nonexistent state. The State works bad in all the countries, to eliminate it completely would be ideal... Braudel’s disciples included Italian pioneers, Ruggiero Romano. One of the most important exponents of the economic historiography in the second half of the 20th Century


-- (it) A-Rivista Anarchica n.289: Gli anarchici contro il fascismo (Pt.VI) From worker-a-infos-it@ainfos.ca (Flow System) Date Mon, 12 May 2003 10:52:06 +0200 (CEST) ________________________________________________ A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E http://www.ainfos.ca/ http://ainfos.ca/index24.html ________________________________________________ Gli anarchici contro il fascismo 1919-1945 (e oltre). Sulle barricate, in carcere, al confino, in Spagna, nella clandestinità. ANARCHICI AD IMOLA Gli anarchici imolesi dal primo sorgere del movimento fascista fino e durante la Resistenza. Il 1920 segna la riorganizzazione definitiva degli anarchici imolesi che danno vita a due folti gruppi: il gruppo giovanile anarchico e l’USI. In tutto i giovani che si impegnavano attivamente erano una ottantina: organizzavano dibattiti, conferenze, comizi e cercavano di realizzare una stretta unità con i giovani socialisti. L’attività sindacale era diretta soprattutto verso quelle categorie come i muratori, gli infermieri, gli imbianchini, i Francesco Barbieri, i metallurgici ed i camerieri che non erano seguiti dalla Camera del Lavoro (aderente alla CGL) impegnata com’era nell’agitazione agraria e quindi nell’organizzazione delle categorie agricole. La preparazione rivoluzionaria degli anarchici cresceva ogni giorno, per cui non si trovarono sprovvisti di fronte al fascismo. Infatti il 28 ottobre 1920 Dino Grandi, allora giovane avvocato di Mordano (comune vicino ad Imola), poi uno dei più grandi gerarchi fascisti, subisce un attentato: gli vengono sparati contro quattro colpi di rivoltella che, (purtroppo) non lo colpiscono. Si attribuisce il fatto agli anarchici e i socialisti declinano ogni responsabilità. In effetti gli autori dell’attentato risultano essere veramente anarchici che, nel momento in cui il fascismo nascente si appoggia a giovani studenti infiammati di patriottismo e di spirito reazionario e di odio verso il socialismo, hanno intuito in Grandi un possibile futuro nemico. Il 1920 si conclude con il tentativo, da parte dei fascisti di crearsi le premesse per poter penetrare in Imola, ma fino al giugno del 1921 i fascisti ad Imola non hanno voce in capitolo. Gli anarchici partecipano, con i giovani socialisti, che poi passeranno in massa al PCd’I, alla formazione delle "guardie rosse" a cui è affidato il compito di difendere Imola dalle squadracce provenienti da Bologna. I fascisti infatti avevano già "assoggettato" Castel S. Pietro e si servivano di questo comune come base per le incursioni nei paesi vicini e soprattutto per distruggere il mito di "Imola rossa" e della combattività degli imolesi, dovuta alla cinquantennale propaganda anarchica e socialista e al grande prestigio che aveva avuto Andrea Costa. I fascisti bolognesi fanno vari tentativi fin dal novembre, sempre sconsigliati però dalla autorità locale e dagli stessi capi socialisti perché l’eccezionale livello di mobilitazione del popolo avrebbe provocato una "carneficina". Ma il 14 dicembre una colonna di fascisti in camion tenta di venire ad Imola. Il servizio di informazione scatta immediatamente e tutta la popolazione armata, chiamata dal campanone comunale che suona a stormo, scende in piazza. Le cinque squadre di "guardie rosse" si dispongono nei punti strategici della città e gli anarchici collocano due mitragliatrici all’ingresso di Imola, sulla Via Emilia, in modo da prendere i fascisti in un fuoco incrociato. Anche questa volta i fascisti non vengono, pare che Romeo Galli, socialista, telefonasse al Sindaco di Ozzano per pregarlo di dissuaderli. Ma i fascisti avevano intuito quale era il mezzo più efficace per entrare a Imola: lasciare che una snervante attesa fiaccasse la difesa degli imolesi. Figure squallide Così, con l’appoggio dei popolari, fanno le loro prime apparizioni fino a lanciare un attacco in grande stile. Il 10 aprile, durante una processione organizzata dal Partito Popolare, arrivano i fascisti provenienti da Castel S. Pietro: l’esercito e i carabinieri occupano il centro per difendere dal popolo gli squadristi. Il 28 maggio i fascisti danno l’assalto al Circolo ritrovo socialista, naturalmente di sera. Un gruppo di essi, nascosto nell’ombra dei giardini pubblici, si prepara ad attaccare con pugnali, bombe a mano e rivoltelle. Mentre parte di essi entrano nel circolo, altri, fuori, sparano all’impazzata per impedire alla gente di accorrere. Il bilancio dell’assalto e di sette feriti e la distruzione di parte delle suppellettili, registri, ecc., poste nei locali in cui aveva sede anche la redazione del settimanale socialista "La lotta" e la sezione socialista. La reazione comincia a prendere piede apertamente anche ad Imola, i capi socialisti fuggono a S. Marino e torneranno solo a settembre, a bufera momentaneamente passata. Così la reazione armata fascista colpisce le avanguardie mentre la massa è disorientata e impaurita. Il 26 giugno i fascisti con Dino Grandi, Gino Baroncini, ecc. inaugurano il gagliardetto di combattimento sotto gli occhi soddisfatti della gretta borghesia locale. I fascisti locali, figure squallide, in alcuni casi addirittura malati di mente, trovano appoggio negli agrari che li esaltano, li ubriacano con soldi e vino, e lo stretto collegamento col gruppo già forte del fascismo bolognese li fa sentire improvvisamente padroni della piazza quando in 100 contro uno protetti dalla polizia, si scagliano contro le avanguardie rivoluzionarie. I primi ad essere colpiti sono gli anarchici, poi i socialisti ed infine la reazione si abbatte su tutto il proletariato. Il 10 luglio vi sono i fatti della Birreria Passetti in cui, fallito il tentativo di alcuni fascisti di uccidere l’anarchico Primo Bassi (1892-1972), si costruisce una montatura per accusarlo della morte del rag. Gardi, estraneo ai fatti e rimasto ucciso nella sparatoria. Racconta Primo Bassi: "Il 10 luglio 1921 una squadra di fascisti imolesi iniziava le prime azioni di violenza indiscriminata. Alle ore 10 di sera, incontrato un muratore - tal Campomori - lo colpirono con randellate al capo sino a che, sanguinante, poté rifugiarsi nella birreria Passetti, in quel momento affollata di clienti. Fu allora che notai un giovincello che, battendomi un giunco sulla spalla, mi invitava ad uscire. Accondiscesi, ma dopo pochi passi nell’ampio cortile fui circondato dalla squadra che pretese perquisirmi e quando, palpate le tasche, furono persuasi fossi inerme, iniziarono la bastonatura. Con una spinta mi aprii il passo verso l’uscita e, guadagnando l’uscita sotto le percosse, fui raggiunto da una randellata allo zigomo sinistro che per poco non mi abbatté al suolo. Voltandomi di scatto fu allora - solo allora - che l’istinto di conservazione prevalse in me. Il fascista Casella mi era quasi addosso con l’arma in pugno ed io - già estratta la pistola dalla cintura dei pantaloni - gli sparai contro colpendolo ad una gamba. Sparai ancora in aria un colpo e mentre attorno era tutta una sparatoria fuggii per via Aldovrandi per consegnarmi ai carabinieri sopraggiunti, ferito da una pallottola di rimbalzo. Accompagnato in caserma prima ed all’ospedale poi, fui tempestato di pugni sino a che un infermiere, il socialista Maiolani, non intervenne a redarguirli. Intanto all’interno della birreria un cittadino - voluto poi fascista - era stato colpito dal basso all’alto da un colpo di rivoltella, decedendo. I fascisti si impadronirono di quel morto ed iniziarono una violenta reazione contro uomini e cose". La stessa sera numerose squadre di fascisti percorrono le vie della città, sparando all’impazzata con lo scopo di impaurire. Caccia al sovversivo Poi assalgono la sede dell’Unione Sindacale, distruggendo sistematicamente tutto ciò che trovano: devastano gli uffici delle leghe, la redazione del giornale anarchico "Sorgiamo", il circolo ritrovo, la ricca biblioteca. Tutto ciò che non si può dare alle fiamme nel piazzale sottostante è reso completamente inservibile. Il lunedì continua per le vie di Imola la caccia al sovversivo. Viene arrestato il maestro anarchico Ciro Beltrandi per aver sparato all’ex repubblicano Mansueto Cantoni, diventato segretario del fascio locale. Viene picchiato selvaggiamente coi calci di moschetto alla schiena, tanto da morire nel 1941 a Bruxelles in seguito alla tubercolosi, provocata dalle botte fasciste. Anche il responsabile de "Il Momento", giornale della Federazione Provinciale Comunista Bolognese e organo della Camera del Lavoro di Imola, Romeo Romei viene aggredito e, ferito gravemente al petto con un colpo di rivoltella lasciato per terra moribondo; Ugo Masrati, bracciante agricolo anarchico, mentre è tranquillamente addetto in un’aia come paglierino ai lavori di trebbiatura, viene assassinato dai fascisti. Alla tipografia Galeati, pena l’incendio, si impedisce di stampare il periodico anarchico "Sorgiamo". Si vieta alle edicole di vendere giornali "sovversivi", come "Umanità Nova" e "Ordine Nuovo". Ma il movimento anarchico non è ancora definitivamente abbattuto, bisogna quindi ancora colpirlo, ancora assassinare. La sera del 21 luglio ’21 cinque fascisti si recano in un’osteria alle Case Gallettino con lo scopo ben preciso di colpire un altro anarchico che si era sempre distinto per il suo coraggio, Vincenzo Zanelli, detto Banega, muratore, anarchico. Arrestato per i moti del carovita del luglio 1919, era stato di nuovo arrestato nel 1921 senza un’imputazione precisa e rilasciato dopo 20 giorni. Da allora non era più stato lasciato in pace dai fascisti. Raggiunto con altri due anarchici - Farina e Tarozzi - dai fascisti, viene colpito ma, mentre gli altri due anarchici disarmati fuggono, egli a terra si difende e uccide il suo aggressore, il fascista Nanni, di professione ladro. Ormai quasi tutti gli anarchici imolesi più in vista sono eliminati. L’uccisione del giovane fascista Andrea Tabanelli serve da pretesto per manovre contro gli anarchici: caduta la prima accusa contro l’anarchico Diego Guadagnini, viene accusato il cugino Enrico Guadagnini e i fascisti fanno altre rappresaglie: compiono un altro assalto alla sede dell’USI e ammazzano a randellate in testa Raffaele Virgulti, mutilato di guerra anarchico. uccisi, carcerati o confinati Messi in condizione di non nuocere i compagni migliori come Diego Guadagnini e Primo Bassi (condannato a 20 anni nonostante che la perizia balistica avesse dimostrato che il proiettile che uccise Gardi non apparteneva all’arma di Bassi), uccisi tanti dei migliori come Leo Bianconcini, Vincenzo Zanelli, Raffaele Virgulti, carcerati o confinati tantissimi altri come Tarozzi, Baroncini, Farina, Errani, i fratelli Tinti, Tonini, ecc., il movimento anarchico imolese darà il suo contributo alla lotta di Liberazione in Italia nel 44-45 e, precedentemente, in Spagna nel 1936. Gruppi Anarchici Imolesi ANARCHICI A PIOMBINO L’attivo impegno degli anarchici piombinesi contro il fascismo, prima e durante la Resistenza. Nei primi mesi del 1921, quando già in tutta la Toscana si è scatenata l’offensiva fascista, Piombino non conosce ancora la violenza squadrista e ancora per più di un anno resisterà al cerchio nero che la stringe. A differenza di altri luoghi, a Piombino il fascismo nasce all’ombra delle ciminiere con il denaro dei "dirigenti" dell’ILVA e della Magona, le due fabbriche siderurgiche più importanti della città, occupate nel ’20 dagli operai armati. Questi due colossi industriali non forniscono solo i finanziamenti, ma anche i gregari per le azioni teppistiche trasformando in squadracce nere le guardie dei due stabilimenti, gente abituata da sempre all’odio antioperaio. Tuttavia questi primi fenomeni del l’ondata fascista non trovano lo spazio per ingrandirsi e attecchire perché circoscritti da una classe lavoratrice estremamente combattiva e rivoluzionaria, fortemente influenzata sia dagli anarchici, sia dagli anarcosindacalisti della locale Camera del Lavoro federata all’USI. Per avere un’idea di questa influenza basta guardare i risultati delle elezioni politiche del ’19, con 3.483 schede bianche contro 1.487 voti socialisti, su un totale di 6.098 votanti ed alla composizione delle Commissioni Interne dell’ILVA e della Magona con 15 delegati anarcosindacalisti dell’USI contro i 5 delegati socialisti e comunisti della FIOM. È così che alla fatidica "marcia su Roma" nell’ottobre del ’22, il fascismo piombinese non arriva nemmeno a cento teppisti. Prima del ’22 i fascisti locali non osano tenere i loro raduni nella città; anzi ogni volta che lo squadrismo pisano, senese o fiorentino compiva qualche "impresa" doveva subire l’ira degli anarchici e degli Arditi del Popolo. Il lento affermarsi del fascismo a Piombino in certa misura è da attribuirsi anche all’azione sprovveduta della CGL e del Partito Socialista che, assieme agli esponenti dei vari partiti, degli industriali e dei fasci di combattimento, forma un Comitato Cittadino per pacificare la città e risolvere la crisi dell’industria siderurgica che minacciava di chiudere, licenziando tutte le maestranze. Questo riconoscimento ufficiale delle forze socialiste verso il nascente fascismo è l’equivalente locale della stessa politica che a livello nazionale porterà al Patto di Pacificazione fra fascisti e socialisti. Sarà proprio il Comitato Cittadino che, purgato dagli elementi socialisti, prenderà in mano l’amministrazione di Piombino dopo la conquista della città. Ovviamente a questo Comitato Cittadino sia gli anarchici che la Camera del Lavoro federata all’USI rifiutano di partecipare, ribadendo che non è possibile nessuna pacificazione sia con gli industriali sia con i fasci di combattimento, ma che anzi è dovere rivoluzionario scendere nelle piazze e combattere per soffocare la violenza fascista. Furono infatti proprio gli anarchici e gli anarco-sindacalisti i maggiori sostenitori e attivisti degli Arditi del Popolo. Per iniziativa del deputato socialista Giuseppe Mingrino si era costituito a Piombino il 144° battaglione degli Arditi del Popolo, cui aderivano gli anarchici e l’ala comunista del Partito Socialista, che dopo poco esce dal partito per formare il Partito Comunista. Presto però i comunisti usciranno da queste formazioni operaie di difesa ed anzi una circolare dell’esecutivo del PCd’I diffida tutti i militanti dall’entrare negli Arditi o anche solo di avere contatti con loro. Dopo questa defezione, gli Arditi del Popolo a Piombino saranno costituiti quasi esclusivamente da elementi anarchici e anarcosindacalisti e saranno loro a sostenere le lotte dure e spesso sanguinose che impediranno, nella metà del ’22, ai fascisti di entrare a Piombino. L’attentato al socialista Mingrino, il 19 luglio 1921, fa scattare per la prima volta gli Arditi. Essi attaccano il "covo" dei fascisti piombinesi ma lo trovano deserto, quindi casa per casa e nei luoghi di lavoro catturano i fascisti e costringono un loro capo, il direttore del Cantiere navale, a firmare un atto di sottomissione. Le Guardie Regie corse in aiuto dei fascisti vengono sopraffatte e disarmate. Solo dopo alcuni giorni la reazione degli Arditi termina e le forze dell’ordine riescono a riprendere il controllo della città. Intanto il 2 agosto socialisti e fascisti firmano a Roma il Patto di Pacificazione. Gli Arditi affiggono a Piombino un manifesto: "Non vi può essere nessuna possibilità di pace, in questo momento, tra il proletariato piombinese e i suoi sfruttatori... gli arditi del popolo resteranno vigili ed armati contro gli sgherri neri". Il 3 settembre l’anarchico Giuseppe Morelli sorpreso ad affiggere manifesti contro il Patto di Pacificazione reagisce con la pistola alle guardie regie ed ai fascisti, rimanendo ucciso nel conflitto. Durante la notte, prevedendo la reazione degli anarchici, la Polizia irrompe nelle abitazioni e nei luoghi di lavoro (durante i turni notturni) arrestando oltre 200 compagni. Privati gli arditi e gli anarchici dei loro militanti politici e sindacali più attivi, i fascisti capirono che quello era il momento per sferrare il loro attacco. Prima incendiarono la sezione socialista, poi la Camera Confederale e la tipografia la Fiamma, e quindi si diressero verso la Camera del Lavoro sindacale, ma si scontrarono con una pattuglia di giovani anarchici, fra cui: Landi, Lunghi, Venturini, Marchionneschi, Panzavolta, Franci, Messena Lucarelli. Giungevano nel frattempo gruppi di operai e la polizia fu costretta ad arrestare i fascisti per salvarli dalla sana ira popolare. Racconta Armando Armando Borghi: "Una conferenza la tenni a Piombino, presente il deputato comunista Misiano. I fascisti lo avevano scacciato dal Parlamento, minacciandolo di morte, e lui si era rifugiato sotto la protezione degli anarchici, nella cittadina toscana, tenuta ancora dai nostri alla fine del 1921". I fascisti tentarono la conquista di Piombino il 25 aprile del ’22, ma giunti alla periferia della città, trovarono gli anarchici e gli Arditi che rapidamente misero in fuga le camice nere. Frattanto, dopo la riapertura degli stabilimenti siderurgici, manovrando abilmente con le assunzioni discriminate per rendere più debole la compattezza operaia (Piombino anche allora era una città-fabbrica) le direzioni aziendali preparavano il colpo definitivo, essendosi anche assicurata la totale collaborazione del Comitato Cittadino. Un’altra vittima fu il giovane anarchico Landi Landino (21 maggio 1922), che i fascisti tenevano presente come il principale artefice delle loro "ritirate". Il 12 giugno (dopo un incidente appositamente creato dove rimaneva ucciso uno studente fascista e per i funerali del quale giunsero in città i fascisti di tutta la zona) gli squadristi e le guardie regie inviate da Pisa a "ristabilire l’ordine" si impadronivano della città. Dapprima occupano il Comune e la Pretura, poi i fascisti assaltano e distruggono le sedi del Partito Socialista e della CGL. Per tutta la notte e tutto il giorno dopo, con centinaia di assalti, le squadracce tentano la conquista della Camera Sindacale dell’USI e della tipografia del giornale anarchico "Il martello", sempre respinti. Solo dopo un giorno e mezzo di combattimento, fascisti e guardie regie riescono a piegare anche gli anarchici. Il fascismo era passato anche a Piombino ed i compagni più in vista trovarono scampo nell’espatrio; altri dovettero subire persecuzioni e angherie durante tutto il regime fascista. Prendiamo ad esempio le vicende di due compagni: Egidio Fossi e Adriano Vanni. Egidio Fossi, condannato nel ’20 dalle Assise di Pisa a 12 anni e 6 mesi, 2 anni dei quali trascorsi in segregazione a Portolongone, gli altri in varie galere. Venne liberato per amnistia nel mese di ottobre 1925, fu poi perseguitato ripetutamente, ammonito e minacciato dai fascisti, finché espatriò clandestinamente in Francia. Anche all’estero non sfuggì alla persecuzione e comincio così la vita randagia del fuoriuscito, braccato anche dalla polizia francese. Alla notizia che in Spagna il popolo era insorto contro il tentativo di "golpe" franchista, non mise tempo in mezzo e raggiunse nell’agosto 1936 la colonna italiana Francisco Ascaso; partecipando a tutte le azioni sul fronte aragonese di Huesca, rimanendo a combattere in Spagna fino al marzo del 1939; fu poi internato nel campo di concentramento di Gurs e mandato nelle compagnie di lavoro. Nel 1940 fu fatto prigioniero dai tedeschi, venne quindi tradotto in Italia e assegnato al confino di Ventotene per 5 anni. Fu liberato nel settembre 1943; poté rientrare a Piombino nel 1945, dove riprese il suo posto nelle file anarchiche e come operaio all’Italsider. Adriano Vanni, condannato insieme a Egidio Fossi e scarcerato nello stesso periodo fu subito bastonato a sangue dai fascisti; dovette riparare all’estero, ma anche qui ebbe vita difficile. Rientrato in Italia dopo qualche anno, cominciarono di nuovo le persecuzioni del regime e le bastonature dei delinquenti in camicia nera. Partecipò attivamente alla sommossa della popolazione contro i nazifascisti del 10 settembre 1943. La lotta partigiana lo vide fra i più validi animatori della resistenza e assieme ad altri libertari operò in formazioni che agivano nelle zone all’interno della Maremma; fece parte anche del nucleo periferico del CLN. A liberazione avvenuta, nonostante si ritrovasse faccia a faccia con molti dei suoi aguzzini del ventennio, ebbe la forza morale di non vendicarsi. Altri compagni dovettero prendere la via del fuoriuscitismo da Piombino, come Franci Dario, Bacconi, (dirigente dell’USI), Agnarelli Smeraldo, e altri ancora. A Torino si trasferirono compagni come Guerrieri Settimo, Baroni Ilio (caduto nelle formazioni GAP), Bellini e Cafiero. I compagni che riuscirono a rimanere a Piombino non rimasero immuni da ammonizioni e minacce e, quando venivano personalità del regime, erano prelevati dalle loro abitazioni e tenuti in carcere per 3 o 4 giorni. Federazione Anarchica Piombinese A - rivista anarchica anno 33 n. 289 aprile 2003 http://www.anarca-bolo.ch/a-rivista http://www.ainfos.ca/03/may/ainfos00268.html


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En diciembre / DECEMBER (1939) Sabater es “liberado” por la organización de su partido y destinado como montador en la construcción de una fábrica de pólvoras en Angulema; después pasaría a otra de gasógenos con igual cometido. En 1943 se traslada con su mujer y su hija a Perpignán. El alcalde de Prades, de filiación anarquista, le facilita una documentación en regla y la Organización le concede un préstamo con el que compra los útiles necesarios de fontanería y alquila el «más» Casenove Loubette, en el término de Coustouges, a menos de un kilómetro de la raya fronteriza con la provincia de Gerona. Desde este punto, al parecer sin importancia, Sabater va a elaborar la planificación de los distintos golpes de mano que le harían famoso.

Su nueva ocupación de agricultor le obliga a hacer algunos viajes a Ceret, Saint Laurel, Arlés-sur-Tech y por último Perpignán, donde la Organización, que ya ha pensado seriamente en él, le pone en contacto con un viejo camarada el Roseta, otro anarquista de acción, militante en la División Durruti, Es a partir de este momento, comienzos de 1945, donde va a jugar un papel importante como auxiliar de los que pasan a la acción en el terrorismo barcelonés, donde el “Quico” se convertiría en el guerrillero urbano más audaz de la C.N.T-F.A.I. Su profundo conocimiento del terreno, le proporcionaría la zona de paso ideal para la huida hacía su oculto «Mas» Casenove Loubette, o para la infiltración en la Ciudad Condal, Debido a esta peculiar característica, los grupos de acción y las partidas permanecían el tiempo preciso para descansar en algún punto de apoyo, proveerse de alimentos, dejar o tomar las armas, según les conviniese, o aplastarse en algún seguro escondite, a la espera del momento propicio para saltar bien hacia Francia, bien hacía Barcelona, su campo de acción preferido

La primera vez que entró en España después de la contienda, lo hizo para guiar y proteger a una delegación cenetista. Lo acompañaban Jaime Pares Adán “Abisinio” y Juan Salas Millón “Roget”, responsable este último de que Sabaté retomara el camino de la lucha antifranquista. Llegaron hasta Hospitalet, contactaron con los grupos libertarios y , efectuaron los primeros golpes económicos. En uno de ellos, dejaron escrito su mensaje: “No somos atracadores, somos resistentes libertarios. Lo que nos llevamos servirá para dar de comer a los hijos de los antifascistas que habéis fusilado y que se encuentran abandonados y sufren hambre. Somos los que no hemos claudicado, ni claudicaremos y seguiremos luchando por la libertad del pueblo español mientras tengamos un soplo de vida.” También se dedicaron a reconstruir puntos de apoyo, tanto en Barcelona como en el campo, y a distribuir depósitos de armas. Alcanzados los objetivos, regresaron a Francia.

De vuelta a Barcelona Quico decide hacer acopio de fondos pues estaba falto de medios económicos y la Organización no estaba muy holgada de efectivo. En compañía de “el Abisinio” se presenta en Hospitalet, donde dan dos atracos donde obtienen 90.000 pesetas, además de una máquina de escribir, a continuación reciben el encargo del Comité de Resistencia de la C.N.T., de “liberar” a tres correligionarios que habían sido detenidos. El 20 de octubre, cuando eran trasladados a la cárcel, Sabater y “Roset”, atacan a la pareja de Policía Armada que los custodiaba, mientras “el Abisinio” permanecía al volante de un coche para facilitar la huida.
A continuación se presentó en Toulouse, donde el Comité Nacional en el exilio, exigía su presencia. La misión que le acaban de encomendar, es la de introducir en España una importante cantidad de armas para incrementar los grupos terroristas. Esta vez le auxiliaría como segundo “Caraquemada”, residente en Francia desde hacía algunas semanas.

Posteriormente se produce la detención en Gerona de un importante enlace. Por los interrogatorios la policía se entera que el grupo de Sabater, tenía un punto de apoyo en Barcelona en una lechería de la calle Santa Teresa. “Quico” que había hecho el viaje a pie desde Gerona a Barcelona donde llegó el 2 de mayo, ignoraba que la lechería estaba vigilada. Detenido el dueño por la Policía pudo saberse la situación de los escondites de “el Abisinio”, de “Roset” y de “Quico”, El 9 de mayo, Jaime Pares Adán “el Abisinio”, al entrar en casa de su hermana, en la calle Travesera de Gracia, era muerto por la Policía; un segundo anarquista era detenido al entrar en la lechería de la calle Santa Teresa. “Quico” y “Roset”, se ocultaron por algún tiempo. El primero fue a Hospitalet donde le aguardaba su hermano José, puesto en libertad condicional en el campo de Albatera. Pasados unos días “Roset” fue también detenido en su domicilio.

La muerte de “Abisinio”, acribillado a tiros el 8 de mayo de 1946 cuando entraba en su casa barcelonesa, inició simbólicamente el importante listado de muertos confederales. En las bajas libertarias influyeron sobremanera las actividades de los confidentes policiales al servicio del jefe de la BPS, el comisario Eduardo Quíntela Bóveda, que había conseguido atraerse a dos anarquistas relevantes, Eliseo Melis Díaz y Antonio Seba Amores. En la posguerra, Melis, auxiliado por Seba, había logrado dominar el comité regional de Cataluña de acuerdo con el comisario Quíntela, el máximo responsable de la lucha antiguerríllera en Barcelona junto con Pedro Polo Borreguero, que estaba al frente de la Brigada de Servicios Especiales de la policía. El corolario de esas infiltraciones fueron las detenciones continuadas de militantes anarquistas, incluidos comités en pleno. Como consecuencia de las sucesivas caídas, los confidentes se convirtieron en un objetivo prioritario de los resistentes confederales.

Los hermanos Sabater (José y Francisco), se reúnen más tarde en el Monte, regresando por fin a Francia. La plana mayor anarquista estudia a fondo las causas del fracaso de su mejor grupo de acción y descubre que han sido posiblemente traicionados por un viejo anarquista llamado Elíseo Melís Díaz, al que deciden eliminar. Se comisiona para ello a Manuel Pareja quien entra en España con un nutrido grupo hacia el mes de FEBRERO / FEBRUARY de 1947. La infiltración la hacen ahora desde Prats de Molló, en San Pablo de Seguríes la Guardia Civil mantiene una refriega con ellos. Cae muerto uno y apresan heridos a dos. Pero Pareja y Antonio Gil, consiguen escapar. El 26 de abril, la Policía, continuando las investigaciones derivadas de la detención del enlace de Gerona, descubre en Servia del Ter un arsenal consistente en 100 cartuchos de dinamita, varios revólveres, lápices explosivos, 15 escopetas, un fusil, una metralleta, un teléfono de campaña, una emisora, un catalejo y varios sellos de caucho de la Organización.

La eliminación de Melís habíase preparado minuciosamente. El 12 de julio. Pareja y Gil acuden a unos salones de billar en la plaza Buensuceso. Invitan a Melís a que les acompañe. Este les sigue. Cuando se dirigen a la calle Montealegre, al grupo se unen “El Yago” y Ramón González que moriría meses más tarde, en 13 de junio (1948) en Barcelona en un tiroteo con la Policía. En la calle Montealegre, Melís decide sacudirse la escolta. Da un empujón a Pareja y se mete en un portal, a la vez que le hiere mortalmente con su pistola. Sin embargo Pareja, pudo alcanzarle y Gil, le remató instantes después. Cumplido el encargo de eliminar a Melís, el M.L.R. (Movimiento Libertario de Resistencia) organizado en marzo de 1947, con el propósito de convertirse en la Rama Militar de la acracia, hizo una siembra de propaganda, advirtiendo a las fuerzas represoras que “al terrorismo gubernamental”, responderían con el “terrorismo popular”, ajusticiando a los delatores en la calle, en sus casas y donde los encuentren, como sí fuesen alimañas. Después de ejecutar a Melis y de un atentado fallido contra Seba, que no dio ocasión a que lo intentaran de nuevo, poniendo tierra por medio, los libertarios consiguieron ponerse de acuerdo para eliminar al perseguidor por excelencia de los anarquistas, el comisario Quíntela. La fecha quedó fijada para el 2 de marzo de 1949 y participaron en la acción los hermanos Francisco y José Sabaté Llopart, Carlos Vidal, Mariano Aguayo, Wenceslao Jiménez Orive, José López Penedo y Simón Gracia. La fortuna estuvo del lado de Quiniela. Aunque su coche fue repetidamente ametrallado, ese día ocupaban el vehículo Manuel Pinol Ballester, secretario del Frente de Juventudes del distrito universitario, y José Tella Bavoy, jefe de deportes del mismo organismo. Murieron Pinol y el chófer, Antonio Norte Juárez, mientras que Tella resultó herido.

He aquí el relato del teniente coronel de la Guardia Civil Francisco Aguado sobre la realización del atentado:
“Pasada la una de la tarde, “Quico” con mono azul, simulaba arreglar una avería en el motor de la camioneta. Poco más arriba estaba estacionado un coche Fiat donde se encontraban los componentes del resto del grupo. José Sabater al volante de la camioneta simulaba prestar atención a los movimientos del falso mecánico. A no mucha distancia, paseaba distraídamente otro del grupo. En el Fiat, con las metralletas dispuestas, se encontraban “Wences”, Simón Gracia, del grupo de Sabater y José López.

Poco antes de dar las dos de la tarde, el pacifico paseante se quitó el sombrero. Era la señal convenida. “Quico” extrajo del motor de la camioneta su metralleta, se plantó en medio de la calzada y comenzó a disparar sobre un coche negro que se acercaba, hasta detenerlo unos metros antes de llegar a su altura. Sus ocupantes salieron aturdidos por ambas puertas, pero entonces desde el Fíat fueron ametrallados sin piedad. Todo les había fallado a los terroristas. El coche agredido no era el del comisario Quiniela, sino otro del mismo modelo”

Estos hechos recrudecieron si era posible el odio entre Quintela y los guerrilleros. Por parte del policía su animadversión llegó a alcanzar rasgos patológicos. La captura de Francisco Sabaté Llopart “Quico” rebasó los límites profesionales para convertirse en una verdadera obsesión personal. Hasta tal punto que, cuando fue cercado y herido, este antiguo comisario, jubilado en Galicia, se desplazó a Barcelona con su perro “Bloodhound” para asistir al desenlace. Era como rematar una tarea inacabada que consideraba personal.

En marzo caía herido José Sabaté, el hermano mayor del “Quico”, y fue evacuado a Francia —previas curas en Martorell y en Abrera—, acompañado por Francisco Martínez Márquez (“Paco”), Santiago Amir Grueñas (“el Sheriff”) y otro compañero.
El primero de los Sabaté en caer iba a ser el hermano pequeño —Manolo—, de veinte años de edad, el cual aprovechando el encarcelamiento de “Quico”, en Francia, y la ausencia de José, logró convencer a otros componentes de un comando armado que le dejaran ir con ellos a España. Así cruzó la frontera, con el grupo de “Caraquemada”, en junio de 1949. Poco después de entrar en territorio español los guerrilleros sostuvieron una refriega con la Guardia Civil y Manolo sería capturado cerca de Moya (Barcelona), pueblo que, con Bañolas, fue uno de los refugios más seguros de la guerrilla libertaria. Manolo Sabater fue juzgado y fusilado el 24 de FEBRERO / FEBRUARY 24 de 1950 con otro guerrillero llamado “Culebras”. A mediados de octubre del mismo año, José era muerto en una refriega con la policía en las calles de Barcelona.

Estas muertes afectaron profundamente en adelante la vida de “Quico” y al dolor de estas pérdidas se unió un nuevo motivo de aflicción. Como consecuencia de las torturas y de su inexperiencia en la clandestinidad, el pequeño de los Sabaté había facilitado información a la policía, actitud que le valió el desprecio y el olvido de su hermano, un hombre inflexible hasta la falta de humanidad. Verdadera muestra del carácter del guerrillero. La desaparición de sus hermanos fue el argumento utilizado por Federica Montseny para descalificar la acción subversiva de “Quico”, aduciendo que confundía ideales con venganza. Una explicación similar utilizó años después Marcelino Massana: “Creo que vivió excesivamente obsesionado por la muerte de sus hermanos José y Manuel. Sus muertes le impedían aceptar el sosiego y su destierro en Dijon.”

Por una vez parece que va existir cierta coordinación en las acciones guerrilleras: se ha establecido en Barcelona contacto entre Facerías y “Quico”, éste distribuye los encargos. Facerías y Adróver colocarían una bomba en el consulado de Bolivia, sito en la calle Gerona, numero 148; «Quico», «Paco» y otro más, lo harían en los de Perú y Brasil, ubicados en la calle Muntaner, número 273 y en la Rambla de Cataluña, número 88 respectivamente.

Poco después, Francisco Denis “Catalán”, era detenido en Gironella, se trataba de un veterano anarquista acostumbrado a repasar la frontera. Poseedor de muchos secretos sobre el terrorismo ácrata, se los llevó para siempre, Mientras era conducido a Manresa, se envenenó con una ampolla de cianuro que llevaba consigo.

En junio de 1949, “Quico” regresa a su «más» de Casenove Loubette, Había “solicitado” de ]a Organización unas vacaciones. Creyó que los franceses habían olvidado sus cuentas pendientes (tenencia ilícita de armas) con las autoridades del país vecino. Detenido por los gendarmes el tribunal de apelación de Montpellier, lo condenó a seis meses de cárcel y cinco años de destierro en Dijón. Hasta 1955, cumplido su confinamiento “Quico” no vuelve a aparecer por Barcelona.

En 18 de ENERO / JANUARY 18 de 1951 se produce en Lyon un atraco a un coche postal.
Ciertas sospechas recayeron también sobre Sabater, que aunque confinado en Dijón, este confinamiento no era observado muy rigurosamente. Después de interrogatorios y diligencias, “Quico” fue puesto en libertad por el juez de Lyon en 13 de noviembre de 1952, pero no quedó libre totalmente hasta tres años más tarde en que fue sobreseído su expediente. Exactamente el 16 de noviembre de 1955.Para entonces, la opinión acerca de España en el extranjero, había cambiado bastante.

Tanto “Quico” como los de su grupo disponían de buen armamento. En cuanto a la propaganda habían impreso un periódico titulado El Combate, portavoz de los Grupos Anarco-sindicalistas. El primer número estaba fechado en mayo de 1955.
“Quico” entra en España con otros tres compañeros más. De ellos, dos se ocultaron en Tarrasa a la espera de ser llamados por Sabater.
El 3 de mayo los cuatro suben a un taxi en la avenida José Antonio. Amenazan al taxista con una pistola y este los transporta hasta la calle Mallorca, El taxi para frente a la sucursal del Banco de Vizcaya. Del vehículo descienden el “Quico” y dos más. Cerca está una pareja de Policía Armada que para nada se apercibe de lo que está pasando en el Banco. Todo lo hacen silenciosamente. En un instante, se apoderan de 700.000 pesetas.

Quico intentó aumentar la recluta de sus hombres. Para ello conectó con el secretario del Comité Regional de Cataluña, un confederal pacífico. La entrevista quedó fijada para las tres de la tarde en un punto determinado de Pueblo Nuevo. Astutamente, Sabater desde un taxi dio unas vueltas por la zona de la entrevista unos minutos antes de la hora fijada. Cuando llegó el secretario del Comité Regional, volvieron al taxi pero “Quico” se dio cuenta que alguien les seguía. Sabater, ante el asombro de su acompañante, con la culata de la metralleta, rompió el cristal trasero del coche y se dispuso a hacer fuego sobre el vehículo. “Quico” manda parar el taxi cerca del Hospital de Santa Cruz, momento que aprovecha el secretario del Comité Regional de la C.N.T. de Cataluña para salir a toda prisa, tomar otro y desaparecer. “Quico” monta la metralleta y apoyado en una esquina, de espaldas a la pared aguarda la llegada del coche de la Policía que le ha seguido, al que dispara una ráfaga cuando lo tiene cerca. El conductor es herido.

Poco después, asalta un coche que casualmente pasaba por allí y ordena a su conductor se dirija a la parada de taxis sita frente al Hospital de Santa Cruz. Toma y deja varios coches, hasta que consigue escapar a la persecución.
El 28 de septiembre Franco se encuentra en Barcelona en viaje oficial. “Quico” aprovecha la importancia del día para utilizar su mortero lanzador de propaganda, artilugio este que llevaba mucho tiempo desarrollándolo y que por fin va a poder dedicarlo al uso que se había propuesto. Busca un taxi con ventana en el techo. Explica al conductor que se trata de hacer campaña afecta al régimen, invitando a los barceloneses se sumen a los actos. Y Sabater, desde el taxi lanza unas cargas de octavillas en español y catalán, en las que puede leerse: “Pueblo antifascista: Son ya demasiados los años que soportas a Franco y a sus sicarios. No basta hacer la crítica de este corrompido régimen de miseria y de terror. Las palabras son palabras. La acción es necesaria. ¡Abajo la tiranía! ¡Viva la unión del pueblo español! Movimiento Libertario de España. Comité de Relaciones”

En el mes de FEBRERO / FEBRUARY de 1956, Sabaté había presentado la Alianza Democrática de Resistencia Antifranquista (ADRA), mediante la que se dirigía a todos los antifranquistas, con la excepción habitual de los comunistas, y en la que especificaba el objetivo de la misma: el derrocamiento del régimen.

El 21 de marzo de 1956 eliminó a un policía que le iba siguiendo, y seguidamente tuvo que volver a Francia: la frontera francesa constituía la referencia del anarquista barcelonés. En noviembre de 1956 regresó de nuevo a España con ángel Marqués Urdí y Amadeo Ramón Valledor, que había luchado en la guerrilla antifranquista en León. El 22 de diciembre / DECEMBER realizaron un atraco a la empresa Cubiertas y Tejados y consiguieron cerca de un millón de pesetas. En esta acción Marqués Urdí resultó detenido. Con muchas dificultades, Sabaté y Ramón Valledor, después de permanecer escondidos durante un mes en un piso de la ciudad, lograron llegar a Francia en FEBRERO / FEBRUARY de 1957, acompañados de una joven amiga del primero.

Detenido el 12 de diciembre / DECEMBER de 1957 en Francia, los jueces lo condenaron a ocho meses de cárcel y cinco de confinamiento. Pasó por los penales de Perpignan y Montpellier, y salió en libertad el 12 de mayo de 1958. Le restaban los cinco años de confinamiento, que empezó a cumplir en la ciudad de Dijon. Pero un auto del 5 de noviembre de 1959 lo requería de nuevo para comparecer ante la justicia francesa. Entre la cárcel en Francia y la lucha en Cataluña, decidió continuar la resistencia en Barcelona y desoír los consejos de quienes le pedían que se marchara a América.

Parece ser que por aquellas fechas, Sabaté recibió ofertas de colaboración armada y táctica por parte de los Yugoslavia y de Argelia, pero “Quico” siempre temeroso de que los comunistas pudieran atacar las esencias ácratas, no aceptó sin la conformidad del Comité Confederal. Cuando éste aceptó la oferta Sabaté ya estaba embarcado en su última misión sin otra ayuda que sus propios medios.

La situación de Sabaté era critica. Al margen de Vila Capdevila, que hacía la guerra por su cuenta en las montañas catalanas, era el único que permanecía abiertamente en la lucha. Las redes de apoyo ya no eran fiables, y existía la certeza de una colaboración estrecha de las policías francesa y española con el propósito de eliminarlo. El biógrafo de Sabaté, Antonio Téllez Sola, sostiene la hipótesis de que la policía francesa tenía bajo estrecha vigilancia al maquis catalán y que le permitía pasar a España para que fuera liquidado definitivamente por las fuerzas de represión franquistas.

La huída espectacular de Francisco Sabate ("Quico") A partir de aquí la historia de su huida se hace cada vez más increíble. La Guardia Civil le ha perdido la pista. Se pusieron todos los medios para recuperar su pista, todo fue inútil ni siquiera dio resultado el rastreo de un perro policía tras olfatear un pañuelo que “Quico” había perdido. Sin embargo, la pista se orientó de forma marcada hacia Gerona. Los reconocimientos durante el día 4 tampoco dieron resultado. De todas formas, debido a su estado, no podía estar muy lejos. En la noche del 4 al 5, Sabater cruza el río Ter por un vado aguas arriba del Puente de la Dehesa de Gerona. Esto se pudo comprobar posteriormente por manifestaciones del personal ferroviario, que declaró que cuando subió al tren en la estación de Fornells de la Selva, tenía las ropas mojadas. Sobre las tres de la madrugada del día cinco, llamó a una casa próxima a Fornells de la Selva, pero no le fue franqueada la puerta. Al iniciar su marcha un tren de viajeros con destino a Barcelona, Sabater subió al convoy. Amenazó con pistola y metralleta a maquinista y fogonero y les conminó enérgicamente que no detuviesen el tren hasta la Ciudad Condal. El maquinista trata de convencerle que era totalmente imposible. Los viajeros tendrían que bajar en las estaciones intermedias y terminarían por accionar el aparato de alarma deteniendo automáticamente el tren. Por otra parte en el empalme de Massanet-Massanas. había que cambiar la máquina de vapor, por otra eléctrica. Sabater que va en la locomotora, ordena al maquinista que en las detenciones rebase al máximo los puntos donde haya luz, con el objeto de evitar ser descubierto. Como no había comido desde el mediodía del día tres, obligó a maquinista y fogonero le entregaran sus bocadillos, que ávidamente los consumió. Luego se subió a la escalerilla de detrás de la máquina para encañonar más cómodamente a ambos ferroviarios. Llegado el momento del cambio de máquina, Sabater aprovecha el instante en que ambas quedaban una frente a la otra y de un salto pasa al tren eléctrico. Maquinista y fogonero participan los incidentes al factor de la estación y seguidamente se alerta a toda la línea férrea. Los conductores de la máquina eléctrica no se apercibieron al principio de la presencia de “Quico”. Al pasar el convoy por Hostalrich, donde no había parada, Sabater, a pesar del dolor de sus heridas, iba tumbado sobre el techo del furgón de equipajes. Al rebasar la estación de Guialbes, Quico Sabater que ya había bajado hasta la máquina, se introdujo en su pasillo y, cuando el ayudante del conductor se dispone a cerrar la puerta, muy sorprendido ve que alguien le encañona con una pistola por la espalda. Sabater le reclama por algún sitio para ocultarse. Pero esto no era factible, ya que existían muchos puntos peligrosos, debido a la alta tensión de la línea. El ayudante informó al maquinista la presencia de tan inesperado viajero, Sabater le dijo pertenecía a la resistencia y que esperaban refuerzos de América. Dada la circunstancia de que en Sant Celoní había que efectuar un cruce, cuando el tren aminoró la marcha, un kilómetro antes de llegar a la estación, Sabater abandonó el convoy.

Al detenerse, el maquinista informó al factor de la presencia de Sabater, quien a su vez lo comunicó al sargento comandante del puesto de la Guardia Civil de San Celoni, de servicio con dos guardias en las inmediaciones de la estación.

Lugar donde cayó muerto Quico Sabater, en el Carrer de Santa Clota, Sant Celoni

Malherido en una nalga, una pierna y en el cuello, apenas podía mantenerse en pie debido a la fiebre y la gangrena. En busca de un médico, desesperado, acabó forcejeando con un vecino, Francisco Berenguer Rosa, que advirtió la metralleta debajo de su ropa. Los somatenistas de San Celoni habían sido puestos en alerta y una patrulla integrada entre otros, por el cabo del somatén local y secretario de la CNS, Abel Rocha Sanz, oyó las voces de Berenguer y entre Rocha y el guardia civil Antonio Martínez lograron acabar con su vida en la calle de Santa Clota, no sin antes entablar un fuerte tiroteo con Sabater, que se defendió hasta la muerte. Eran las 8 de la mañana del 5 de ENERO / JANUARY 5 de 1960.

Aquí termina la vida de un hombre que luchó por sus ideales de la única manera que sabía hacerlo, a pecho descubierto y con el arma en la mano. Mientras muchos, muchísimos, llevaban una vida cómoda y regalada en la “dulce” Francia ganando batallas con la mejor estrategia de café, Sabaté, se recorría los caminos de Cataluña para acudir puntual a los puntos donde era necesaria su presencia. Cuantas cosas se hubieran logrado con menos farisaicos “escrúpulos” de pureza ácrata y una ayuda más generosa. De toda aquella lucha nada material consiguió para él, su mujer subsistía gracias a su trabajo fregando suelos, vivió la dureza del monte y la peligrosidad de las ciudades. No cabe duda que García Márquez tuvo que inspirarse en estos hombres para escribir “Crónica de
una muerte anunciada”

The Strike of Loonies a documentary video by Mariana Arruti examining the anarchist led strike of the Argentinian Ship-Building Workers Federation in 1956, known as "the longest strike of the century." http://www.pagina12.com.ar/2001/01-02/01-02-12/pag13.htm



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-- DAILYDOO MOVEABLE placeholder Anarchist, soñador and romantic poet: thus he was the boy who wrote up the text that became our Nacional Hymn Manuel Delgado The music of the National anthem accompanies to us from 1852 when the young person Manuel Maria Gutiérrez, director of bands, composed for president Juanito Mora. But official letters in fact did not have. A called Colombian Juan Manuel Llerás wrote one first letter in 1872, whose first words said: “Citizen. The sun of the free ones has raised radiating the zenith” Little later, the priest Juan Sentry box wrote up another one, and his first estrofa said: “I will sing of the dear mother country the honor, freedom and splendor. With the filled soul of joy I will sing of the mother country the honor” And a called Spanish Juan Fernandez Ferraz did one third, very confused military man and, who said: “Of the mother country the love inspires to us we elevate a triunfal hymn to him of shooting in the warlike lira we celebrate its triunfal glory” But towards 1900 the press initiated a campaign demanding a hymn. He was as well as in 1903 an aid was made 40 poets, and the court chose one that said: “Noble mother country your beautiful flag expression of your life gives us…” “Noble patria tu hermosa bandera expresión de tu vida nos da...” the letter of a young called poet José María Zeledón. Pero Billo, as east young person knew itself poet, he was very little indicated for the Costa Rican society. He was an anarchist had by the powerful classes, anticlerical, and in addition, adversary of the president of then Esquivel Ascent. The new letter began to sing itself in schools and schools and little by little became partly of the national culture. But never it was official hymn, until the governing body of Jose Figueres Ferrer declared National anthem of Costa Rica. It was the year of 1949, therefore a century after to have released music. But that not is strange, because either never there was a document, law or decree around the music, that officially happened to be national anthem in 1979, during the government of Don Rodrigo Carazo. JULY 2??? http://www.teletica.com/archivo/buendia/01/fondo/anarquista.htm


-- DAILYDOO MOVEABLE dailydoo: update the jack london entry of 22nd with email



-- DAILYDOO MOVEABLE PLACEHOLDER Italy: Resumption of the "Marini Trials", a legal farce dragging on since 1995, a massive repression of the Italian anarchist movement. [Source] http://www.manelaisa.com/texto/Articulos/PagArticulos9.htm

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The text of several flyers collected during the demonstration in Turin, on 4th April, 1998, after a violent week of repression and the suicide of an anarchist in jail. http://www.ecn.org/elpaso/cda/ http://www.freewebs.com/frameup/chronology.html



-- DAILYDOO MOVEABLE

T he spectacle is ideology par excellence, because it exposes & manifests in its fullness the essence of all ideological systems: the impoverishment, servitude & negation of real life.       — Guy Debord, La société du spectacle

December 1994 4/12- Panzerknackerparty held in Munich in solidarity with imprisoned comrades.
19/12 - Four addresses in Milan raided, including the Anarchist Laboratory in via De Amicis. Another raid in Aosta.

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:: Bonnot occupato: Nueva ocupación en Nápoles (Italia). [20-12-2002] El 7 de diciembre DECEMBER 2002 fue ocupado un inmueble en Nápoles, una ex-escuela en vía Cardinale Prisco (Bus R4 fermata Colli Aminei). Queremos con este comunicado informar a todas las realidades y las individualidades que como nosotr@s tienen en el corazón el antiautoritarismo y llevan adelante la crítica radical a este estado de cosas a través de la acción directa.

http://flag.blackened.net/pdg/noticias/informaciones%20anteriores/diciembre-02/diciembre-02.htm

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[Source]: http://www.freewebs.com/frameup/chronology.html
various attempts in the past to arrest and convict various anarchists and also describes clearly the dynamics according to which actions should happen, dynamics realized in the Marini inquiry, in which 68 persons are implicated, accused of armed band and who are during this time on trial (Tuesday the 15 and Thursday the 17 of July 1997) in the courtroom of the Foro Italico in Rome. http://www.ecn.org/elpaso/cda/press/rb130797.htm

-- DAILYDOO MOVEABLE PLACEHOLDER add russel blackwell photos, uploaded to gmail


-- PLACEHOLDER DAILYDOO 7. || El Historiador - Biografías :: Rodolfo González Pacheco ••• Rodolfo González Pacheco Nota publicada en Página/12 el Sábado 9 de Abril de 1994. En los años treinta, el periodista Luis Sofovich lo... ...las pampas. Una vez, en la Sociedad de Actores, le preguntaron: ¿Cómo se hizo anarquista". Y él contestó sonriente y nostálgico: "La culpa fue de unos... ...y que fundó junto a un oficial de policía: Federico A. Gutiérrez, a quien un anarquista italiano, el anciano Ragazzini, había convencido durante sus... 61% miércoles 26 de noviembre de 2003 21H47' GMT http://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/biografias/g/gonzalezpacheco.htm



--
PLACEHOLDER DAILYDOO



-- PLACEHOLDER: DAILYDOO 1997 Muere el 25 de diciembre la anarquista y fotógrafa francesa Anita Conti (1899-1997) Anita Conti (1899-1997), an adventurous woman and trailblazing oceanographer, whose life was the sea. She was also a visionary ecologist whose commitment to the protection of the oceans was well in advance of her time. a pioneering oceanographer and a major figure in French maritime history — as is amply demonstrated by her work, her articles to popularise oceanography, her photography, and her writings about the sea. Although she once wrote, “I do not seek adventure, but observation,” she was an intrepid explorer, in the lineage of Théodore Monod and Alexandra David Néel. SOURCE: “I am not, said it, that a solid creature through the wind. ” Anita Conti, adventurous of the seas, oceanologist and ecologist before the hour, died by one night of storm, the evening of Christmas 1997, at the 98 years age, her residence of Douarnenez (Finistere). http://www.manelaisa.com/texto/Articulos/PagArticulos4.htm


-- PLACEHOLDER DAILYDOO Spain: Miguel Abós Serena lives (1889-1940) dies. Anarchist. # 1915 - Cándido Armesto Sanz lives both born sept 29 Fils de Juan Abos et de Martina Serena. Milicien réfugié du 533e groupe de travailleurs espagnols. Décédé d’un abcès pulmonaire, Bd de la République le 28 novembre 1940 à 6 h. http://www.alasbarricadas.org/ateneovirtual/index.php/29_de_septiembre



-- placeholder DAILYDOO 1971??? Spain: Formation of MIL-GAC (Iberian Liberation Movement -- Autonomous Combat Groups) during this month, in response to growing police terror in Spain in the dying years of the dictator. [Exact date not given — ed.]
In 1972 The MIL-GAC become active & the first known action of the MIL takes place in Barcelona. Salvador Puig Antich, actively concerned with pushing the Spanish libertarian cause in England for the past year, returns to Barcelona.
Source: Chronology in Albert Meltzer's I Couldn't Paint Golden Angels Chronologie étoffée et documentée du MIL [1967-1974] http://anarkhia.org/article.php?sid=479
http://www.infokiosques.net/imprimersans2.php?id_article=302

-- PLACEHOLDER DAILYDOO Among the groups under surveillance was the collective that operated Left Bank Books in Seattle's Pike Place Market. Jo Maynes, Lynn Thorndycraft, & Paul Zilsel coordinated the United Front For Political Defense. They assisted lawyer Michael Withey as he represented NLF timebomb maker James Wesley Akers. http://www.leftbankbooks.com http://www.livelogcity.com/users/copkiller11/434.html?replyto=8370 http://www.livelogcity.com/users/copkiller/923.html?view=14747
http://www.livelogcity.com/users/copkiller11/434.html


-- PLACEHOLDER DAILYDOO

Argentina: The atentado del Colón was made the 26 of June of 1910 by a group anarchist // Y que las amenazas no son solo palabras lo demuestra la bomba que estalla en la platea del Teatro Colón, afortunadamente sin muchos estragos // And which the threats are not single words demonstrate the pump to it that explode in silverplates of the Theater Columbus, luckyly without many damage // the festejos dim by the threats of the anarchists, who take to President Jose Figueroa Alcorta to declare the state of siege. .

Violent repression against the anarchist movement earlier had led to the police attacking "La Protesta"'s offices & destroying its printing equipment. The paper reappeared in January 1910, but today is again ransacked & set on fire, forcing it to go underground for a period.

Source: http://www.todo-argentina.net/historia/gen80/Alcorta/1910.htm
http://www.libertario.org.ar/

-- PLACEHOLDER DAILYDOO -- DONE?? Chile: The following year, 1907, the 16 of diciembre/DECEMBER, declares in strike seven thousand salitreros workers of Iquique, protesting economic improvements. They lowered to the port to maintain its movement, and there, in sadly the historical Seat Santa Maria, horrorosamente they were massacreed, being commander of the troopses General Roberto Silva Renard. Until that date, it was the most tragic movement of the workers of this country. They fell assassinated by the shrapnel around two thousand people between workers, their women and their children; and they fell treacherously without fight, massacreed cowardly and by an army that the own victims fed and dressed in their fatigante and newspaper work. Silva Renard, the General who directed those pretorianas forces, fell the 14 of diciembre/DECEMBER of 1914, seven years after his enormous crime, under the dagger of Antonio Roman Roman, attack of which Silva Renard book with life but which soon I take it to the tomb.
a Antonio Ramon stabbed Ramon doing justice (1914) against general Silva Renard, who had ordered the slaughter of the school Santa Maria seven years before. 1914 December déc. 14 CHILI   Antonio ROMAN ROMAN Attentat contre SILVA RENARD auteur du massacre d’Iquique de 1907 http://www.antorcha.net/biblioteca_virtual/historia/anarquismo_chile/anarquismo_chile.html#3

A diferencia de otros rincones del continente en donde la propaganda anarquista llega principalmente bajo el influjo de inmigrantes de origen europeo (en EEUU con la inmigración alemana principalmente, y en Argentina principalmente por los italianos, como botón de muestra) en Chile, la propaganda anarquista de principios de siglo tiene por sujetos centrales a agitadores locales, de la talla de Magno Espinosa, Luis Olea, Víctor Soto Román, Esteban Cavieres, Carmen Herrera, Alejandro Escobar y Carvallo entre tantos otros, cuyos trabajos hasta el día de hoy presentan gran interés. Si bien esto no implica que no halla un Lombardozzi italiano organizando a los trabajadores en Chile o a un Antonio Ramón Ramón haciendo justicia apuñaladas (1914) en contra del general Silva Renard, quien había ordenado la matanza de la escuela Santa María siete años antes. Sin embargo, crucial resultará para el desarrollo de las ideas anarquistas en estas regiones, un intenso contacto con el movimiento en otros rincones del planeta, como era el constante envío de propaganda ácrata de Francia, España y Argentina (donde el movimiento se había desarrollado antes). http://struggle.ws/inter/groups/cuac/anarquismo_chile.html

-- TO DO: PURSUE ERIC GILL AS ANARCHIST, first I've seen his name associate with anarchism Reformist Anarchism 1800-1936: A Study of the Feasibility of Anarchism Publicaton Social Anarchism Issue 19 Author Mark Cohen Date Created 27 Dec 2005 More details... Date Edited 27 Dec 2005 7:01:49 PM License Copyright by the author. All rights reserved. Reformist Anarchism, 1800-1936: A Study of the Feasibility of Anarchism by José Peréz Adán. 242 pp. Great Britain: Merlin Books Ltd., 1992. £ 9.95 net (U.K.), paper. The subtitle of this scholarly study is somewhat misleading. Its aim is not specifically to demonstrate the feasibility of anarchism, though Adán does briefly consider that question. Rather, it is to "explain, elaborate and discuss the philosophical, political and economic foundations of Reformist Anarchism as portrayed in the works of William Godwin, Josiah Warren, Stephen P. Andrews, Benjamin Tucker, Eric Gill and Herbert Read." Adán regards these authors as constituting a reformist tradition within anarchist thinking separate from what he calls revolutionary anarchism, which he associates with such figures as Bakunin, Kropotkin, Malatesta, Goldman and the Spanish anarchists. Readers familiar with the writings of the latter group will probably have the same reaction I did: that the differences among them are at least as significant as any set of differences that might be discerned between them as a "school" of revolutionary anarchism, and the group Adán identifies. This basic problem with the book's concept is compounded by the fact that the author never really makes clear or explicit what he considers the significant differences between these supposed two streams in anarchist thought. However, the book is a useful explication of and introduction to the thinking of the particular authors he has chosen to group together. The work begins with brief biographical sket- ches of the six authors, with reference to their major works, and then considers their ideas in three major sections, Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. The philosophy section, intended to explicate the basic assumptions of reformist anarchism and lay a theoretical foundation for its approaches to politics and economics, is unfortunately longer than it needs to be, often redundant, and, because Adán is not the most fluid writer, sometimes confused and confusing. In fact, Adán pretty well sums up the entire 60-odd page discussion in a single felicitous sentence, "Real independence is not compatible with established authority because the sovereignty of the individual…is not compatible with the sovereignty of the political state" (p.71). Skip the rest of the chapter unless you're a glutton for punishment. The section on politics offers a good discussion of some basic anarchist concepts. Particularly interesting are the discussion of organization versus government, and the section on political participation as the criterion for the difference between what Adán calls "true" and "false" democracy. In this section, Adán attempts to come to grips with what he sees as a major difference between reformist and revolutionary anarchism. He stresses the commitment of his authors to what he calls "gradualism," that is, to the use of education, reform as opposed to revolution, and in general a gradual transition on an individual level to an acceptance of the anarchist project; and he contrasts this with "confrontation with established authority." However, all the "revolutionary anarchists" he names, and Kropotkin in particular, were committed to education as a means of transformation, to inspiring the masses to spontaneous action rather than seizing power, and to the project of "building the new society within the old" by creating alternative organizations rather than directly confronting authority, except in very particular situations. Within anarchist thought as a whole, there is clearly a continuum, rather than a sharp break, on this issue. And the difference on this issue between all these anarchists, on the one hand, and the "state socialists" on the other, is far more significant than the differences among anarchist thinkers. A clearer distinction appears to be Adán's perception that his reformist anarchists condone "transitory government," that is, that they will accept the temporary necessity of government, "even if it lasts forever," and even use it to advance their cause, in order to avoid the evils of violent, revolutionary transformation. Clearly, the "revolutionary anarchists" reject the necessity of even the most minimal government, for even the most limited period, and reject even more strongly the transformation of society through political action. But this notion of accepting government on a "practical" level, while maintaining a philosophical opposition to it, seems a slippery concept at best, and Adán himself recognizes this in his concluding critique. Adán takes great pains in another, very useful section to distinguish between "the transitory government of Reformist Anarchists" and the "minimal state of the minarchists," that is, modern libertarians like Nozick, a distinction which cannot be stressed enough. But its main effect is to make this notion of "an acceptance of reality and hence of government as a stage" seem a betrayal of the principles outlined in the rest of the work. A more disturbing aspect of Adán's political discussion is his concentration on government to the neglect of broader issues of hierarchy and domination, issues raised most explicitly by Bookchin but always implicit in the work of other anarchists. That there is no discussion here of racism, sexism, homophobia or other "nongovernmental" constraints on freedom may be considered as owing to the authors under consideration, but from his contemporary perspective Adán should have at least raised the issues. It is not at all clear how the theories discussed in the section on economics grow out of the earlier philosophical discussion, though this was Adán's stated intention. But this is the most detailed section of the book, and Adán's discussion of such key concepts as work, competition and profit offers a clear picture of how reformist anarchist economics differs from both capitalist and Marxist conceptions. He outlines a system which "puts the accent on consumption. From the point of view of consumption, that is demand, we can place ourselves in a better position to foster and promote equality." And he incidentally offers a rather effective critique of the theory which justified the economic debacle of the 1980s, supply-side economics. In a brief section called "The System at Work," Adán at last comes to grips with his subtitle, discussing the limited efforts of the American anarchists to test their theories in small communities and settlements. But this section is too small and too abstract, and leaves the reader intrigued by such notions as Warren's Bank of Exchange, the labor Note, the Time Store and Free Banking, but with no real sense of their feasibility or practicality. The author compounds this problem in his concluding "Criticism" by focusing on the more abstract, philosophical objections to the anarchist project rather than on the pragmatic proposals of the previous section. Reformist Anarchism concludes with a very useful bibliographic essay. Its index, however, will prove very frustrating for anyone interested in returning to a particular topic, for it lists only proper names. A serious study of the feasibility of anarchism, "reformist" or otherwise, is probably long overdue. Reformist Anarchism unfortunately, despite its promising subtitle, is not that book. It is, however, a thought-provoking introduction to the work of some of the lesser-known British and American anarchist thinkers. http://www.socialanarchism.org/mod/magazine/display/19/index.php


1000 -- RESUBSCRIBE? Hi, Dave - I need to unsubscribe to the Bleed & I'm not sure how to go about it - also in a great rush as I'm leaving for San Francisco. I'll need to be "off" for some time as my daughter will be receiving intense medical treatments in Portland in Oct. & Nov. & I'll be away a good deal of the time. Thanks -- Lee Kirk 9/3/99

1872 -- The Saragossa Congress gave rise to fears on the part of the ringleaders of the Alliance that Spain might slip out of their hands. The Alliance immediately began a campaign against the authority of the Spanish Federal Council, similar to that which the Jura circular had directed against the so-called authoritarian powers of the General Council. A thoroughly democratic & at the same time coherent form of organisation had been worked out in Spain by the Barcelona Congress & the Valencia Conference. Thanks to the activity of the Federal Council elected in Valencia (activity which was approved by a special vote of the Congress), this organisation achieved the outstanding successes referred to in the general report. Morago, the leading light of the Alliance in Spain, declared at Saragossa that the powers conferred on the Federal Council in the Spanish organisation were authoritarian, that it was essential to restrict them, & to deprive the Council of the right to accept or reject new sections & decide whether their rules were in accordance with the rules of the federation, in short, to reduce its role to that of a mere correspondence & statistics bureau. After rejecting Morago's proposals, the Congress resolved to preserve the existing authoritarian form of organisation (see Extracts from the Papers of the Second Workers' Congress, etc., pp. 109 & 110, appendix No. 8.188 The evidence given by Citizen Lafargue, a delegate to the Saragossa Congress, will be of great importance in this Connection).

In order to isolate the new Federal Council from the disagreements, which had arisen in Madrid, the Congress transferred it to Valencia. However, the cause of the disagreements, namely, the antagonism, which had begun to develop between the Alliance & the International, was not of a local nature. Unaware of the existence of the Alliance, the Congress set up a new Council composed entirely of members of that society, with the result that two of them, Mora & Lorenzo, opposed it & Mora refused a seat on the Council. The General Council's circular "Fictitious Splits", which was a reply to the Jura circular, obliged all members of the International to make an open statement of their allegiance either to the International or to the Alliance. The polemics between Emancipacion on the one hand & the Alliance newspapers, the Barcelona Federacion & the Seville Razon, on the other became increasingly virulent. Finally, on June 2 the members of the former Federal Council -- the editors of Emancipacion & members of the Spanish Central Committee of the Alliance decided to address a circular to all the Spanish sections of the Alliance, in which they announced their dissolution as a section of the secret society & called on other sections to follow their example. Vengeance followed swiftly. They were immediately expelled again from the local Madrid Federation in flagrant violation of the existing regulations. Following this, they reorganised themselves into a new Madrid Federation & requested recognition from the Federal Council. However, in the meantime the Alliancist element in the Council, strengthened by co-option, had gained complete control, causing Lorenzo to resign. The request of the New Madrid Federation met with a blank refusal on the part of the Federal Council, which was already concentrating all its efforts on ensuring the election of Alliance candidates to the Congress at The Hague. To this end the Council sent a private circular to local federations dated July 7, in which, repeating the slanderous remarks of Federacion concerning the General Council, it proposed that the Federations should send to the Congress a single delegation from the whole of Spain elected by a majority vote, the list of those elected to be drawn up by the Council itself. (Appendices No. 9.) It is obvious to anyone familiar with the secret society existing within the International in Spain that such a procedure would have meant the election of Alliance men to attend the Congress on funds provided by members of the International. As soon as the General Council, which was not sent a copy of the circular, got to know of these facts, it addressed a letter dated July 24 to the Spanish Federal Council, which is attached as an appendix (No. I0). The Federal Council replied on August 1 to the effect that it would require time in order to translate our letter which had been written in French, & on August 3 it addressed an evasive reply to the General Council published in Federacion (appendix No. 11). In this reply it sided with the Alliance. On receipt of the letter of August 1, the General Council had already published the correspondence in Emancipacion. It must be added that as soon as the secret organisation was discovered it was claimed that the Alliance had already been dissolved at the Saragossa Congress. The Central Committee had not, however, been informed to this effect (appendix No. 4). The New Madrid Federation denies this, & it should have known. In general, the claim that the Spanish section of an international society such as the Alliance could dissolve itself without first consulting the other national sections is patently absurd. Immediately after this the Alliance attempted a coup d'état. Realising that it would not be able to secure itself an artificial majority at the Hague Congress by means of the same manoeuvres employed at Basle & La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Alliance took advantage of the Conference held at Rimini by the self-styled Italian Federation in order to make a public announcement of the split. The Conference delegates passed a unanimous resolution (see appendix No. 12). Thus the Congress of the Alliance stood in opposition to that of the International. However, it was soon realised that this plan had no chance of success. It was abandoned, and the decision was taken to go to The Hague, with the very same Italian sections, of which only one out of twenty-one belongs to our Association, having the audacity to send their delegates to the Hague Congress which they had already rejected. Considering: 1) That the Alliance (the main organ of which is the Central Committee of the Jura Federation), founded & led by M. Bakunin, is a society hostile to the International, insofar as it aims at dominating or disorganising the latter; 2) That as a consequence of the foregoing the International & the Alliance are incompatible. The Congress resolves: 1) That M. Bakunin & all the present members of the Alliance of Socialist Democracy be expelled from the International Working Men's Association & be granted re-admission to it only after a public renunciation of all connections with this secret society; 2) That the Jura Federation be expelled as such from the International. Conflict with Bakunin Report of Mandate Commission | Hague Congress Index | International Workingmen's Association Index http://www.marxists.org/history/international/iwma/documents/1872/hague-conference/bakunin-report.htm


1877 -- 1877: In January, Peter left England to live in the Neuchatel region, in Switzerland, so that he could devote all of his time to the Jura Federation. When see/coordinate LINK TO BLEED REF:
[Further details] http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/kropotkin/chronology.html


1899 -- Kropotkin spends his birthday (DEC 9) at Hull House, where he is staying. He is writing his book Fields, Factories & Workshops; In 1899 Kropotkin moved to Chicago & lived in the Hull House settlement. However, his anarchist views made him an unwelcome guest in the United States & so he returned to London.

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1890s - Spends most of his time writing. Visits Canada & the United States in 1897. The Atlantic Monthly agrees to publish his memoirs. In his books he attempts to develop an anarchist-communist view of society. <

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(1) Robert Lovett, All Our Years (1948)

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John Sergeant, in his excellent book on Wright's Usonian houses, argues that there's a mutual admiration between Wright & the noted anarchist, Peter Kropotkin. In 1899, Kropotkin moved to Chicago, living in the Hull House commune, set up by radical social reformer Jane Addams, where Wright often lectured, including a reading of his famous essay the Arts & Crafts Machine.

http://www.counterpunch.org/stclair0813.html

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"Oh far-off day of American freedom, when Karl Marx could write for the morning Tribune in New York, & Kropotkin could not only be published in the Atlantic, but be received as a guest in the homes of New England Unitarians, & in Jane Addams' Hull House in Chicago." - Dorthy Day, Loaves & Fishes, 1963. (Inb the good ol' days The Atlantic Monthly agrees to publish his memoirs in 1890s, stayed at hull house in 1899, Marx wrote for the Trib)

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Hull House was emphatically the refuge of lost causes. The anarchist agitation had died out, but the fear of it was maintained by press & police to haunt the slumbers of the best people. Miss Addams was attacked for entertaining Peter Kropotkin in Hull House. The celebration of his birthday was an occasion for the visit to Chicago to the mild ghost of anarchism.

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is stay in Chicago attracted little attention at the time, but two years later, when the assassination of President McKinley occurred, the visit of this kindly scholar, who had always called himself an "anarchist" & had certainly written fiery tracts in his younger manhood, was made the basis of an attack upon Hull-House by a daily newspaper, which ignored the fact that while Prince Kropotkin had addressed the Chicago Arts & Crafts Society at Hull-House, giving a digest of his remarkable book on "Fields, Factories, & Workshops," he had also spoken at the State Universities of Illinois & Wisconsin & before the leading literary & scientific societies of Chicago. These institutions & societies were not, therefore, called anarchistic. Hull-House had doubtless laid itself open to this attack through an incident connected with the imprisonment of the editor on an anarchistic paper, who was arrested in Chicago immediately after the assassination of President McKinley. In the excitement following the national calamity & the avowal by the assassin of the influence of the anarchistic lecture to which he had listened, arrests were made in Chicago of every one suspected of anarchy, in the belief that a widespread plot would be uncovered. The editor's house was searched for incriminating literature, his wife & daughter taken to a police station, & his son & himself, with several other suspected anarchists, were placed in the disused cells in the basement of the city hall. (2) Alice Hamilton, Exploring the Dangerous Trades (1943) Prince Peter Kropotkin was one of the most lovable persons I have ever met. He was a typical revolutionist of the early Russian type, an aristocrat who threw himself into the movement for emancipation of the masses out of a passionate love for his fellow man, & a longing for justice. He stayed some time with us at Hull House, & we all came to love him, not only we who lived under the same roof but the crowds of Russian refugees who came to see him. No matter how down-and-out, how squalid even, a caller would be., Prince Kropotkin would give him a joyful welcome & kiss him on both cheeks. It was most unfortunate that his visit to us came just a short time before the assassination of McKinley. That event woke up the dormant terror of anarchists which always lay close under the surface of Chicago's thinking & feeling, ever since the Haymarket riot. It was known that Czolgosz, the assassin, had been in Chicago at the time when both Emma Goldman & Kropotkin were there, & a rumor started that he had met them & the plot had been of their making - Czolgosz had been their tool. Then the story came to involve Hull House, which had been the scene of these secret, murderous meetings. http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/addams/hullhouse/hullhouse-17.html
(4) Victor Serge, Memoirs of a Revolutionary (1945) In February, old Kropotkin died in Dimitrovo, near Moscow. I had made no effort to see him, fearing that any conversations between us would be painful; he still believed that the Bolsheviks had received German money, etc. My friends & I had known that he was living in cold & darkness, working on his Ethics & playing the piano a little for recreation, & so we had sent him a luxurious parcel of wax candles. I went up to Moscow for his funeral. These were heartbreaking days: the great frost in the midst of the great hunger. I was the only member of the party to be accepted as a comrade in anarchist circles. The shadow of the Cheka fell everywhere, but a packed & passionate multitude thronged around the bier, making this funeral ceremony into a demonstration of unmistakable significance. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkropotkin.htm


1909 -- US: Emma Goldman lectures on "The Dissolution of Our Institutions" in Frisco, followed by a statement by William Buwalda, the soldier court-martialed the previous year & recently pardoned by President Roosevelt. Event takes place without police interference.

Private William Buwalda was placed under military arrest & court-martialled for attending one of Emma Goldman's meetings & "for shaking hands with her."

Military authorities punished him severely. True, he had served his country 15 years, during which time his record was unimpeachable.

His sentence was "reduced" to three years upon review.

The ex-soldier William Buwalda, as a result of agitation in his behalf, was pardoned by President Roosevelt after 10-months' imprisonment.

"On several occasions he had come across my name in the papers. He had thought Emma Goldman a crank & had paid little attention to articles about me...He had come upon my meeting accidentally, while out for a walk. He had seen the large crowd & the police before the Walton Pavilion. It had made him curious & he thought it a good opportunity to practise his stenography by taking down the speech....

"I wanted to raise my voice in protest, to challenge your statements before the whole assembly....Instead I was caught by the crowd & found myself standing on the platform holding out my hand to you.

I was upset by what I had heard & in the grip of the turmoil you had caused in me. All the way to the Presidio I kept thinking: 'She's wrong, she's entirely wrong! Patriotism is not the last resort of scoundrels. Militarism isn't only murder & destruction!'

After the plain-clothes men had reported me to my superior officer, I was put under arrest."

http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_archives/goldman/living/living1_34.html
http://members.aol.com/artgrrrrl/emma.html#menace


1921 -- Anarchism in the Russian Revolution

Anarchism had found its second wind in revolutionary syndicalism; the Russian Revolution gave it its third. This statement may at first surprise the reader, accustomed to think of the great revolutionary movement of October 1917 as the work & domain of the Bolsheviks alone. The Russian Revolution was, in fact, a great mass movement, a wave rising from the people which passed over & submerged ideological formations. It belonged to no one, unless to the people. In so far as it was an authentic revolution, taking its impulse from the bottom upward and spontaneously producing the organs of direct democracy, it presented all the characteristics of a social revolution with libertarian tendencies. However, the relative weakness of the Russian anarchists prevented them from exploiting situations which were exceptionally favorable to the triumph of their ideas.

The Revolution was ultimately confiscated & distorted by the mastery, according to some - the cunning, according to others - of the professional revolutionary team grouped around Lenin. But this defeat of both anarchism & the authentic popular revolution was not entirely sterile for the libertarian idea. In the first place, the collective appropriation of the means of production has not again been put in question, & this safeguards the ground upon which, one day perhaps, socialism from below may prevail over state regimentation; moreover, the Russian experience has provided the occasion for some Russian & some non-Russian anarchists to learn the complex lessons of a temporary defeat - lessons of which Lenin himself seemed to have become aware on the eve of his death. In this context they could rethink the whole problem of revolution and anarchism. According to Kropotkin, echoed by Voline, it taught them, should they ever need to know, how not to make a revolution. Far from proving that libertarian socialism is impracticable, the Soviet experience, on the contrary, broadly confirmed the prophetic correctness of the views of the founders of anarchism and, in particular, their critique of authoritarian socialism.

A LIBERTARIAN REVOLUTION

The point of departure of the Revolution of 1917 was that of 1905, during which a new kind of revolutionary organ had come into being: the soviets. They were born in the factories of St. Petersburg during a spontaneous general strike. In the almost complete absence of a trade-union movement & tradition, the soviets filled a vacuum by coordinating the struggle of the factories on strike. The anarchist Voline was one of the small group which had the idea of setting up the first soviet, in close liaison with the workers & at their suggestion. His evidence coincides with that of Trotsky, who became president of the soviet a few months later. In his account of 1905 he wrote, without any pejorative intent - quite the contrary: "The activity of the soviet represented the organization of anarchy. Its existence & its subsequent development marked the consolidation of anarchy."

This experience had made a permanent mark upon working-class consciousness and, when the second Russian Revolution broke out in February 1917, its leaders did not have to invent anything. The workers took over the factories spontaneously. The soviets revived on their own initiative. Once again, they took the professional revolutionaries by surprise. On Lenin's own admission, the masses of peasants & workers were "a hundred times further to the left" than the Bolsheviks. The prestige of the soviets was such that it was only in their name & at their behest that the October insurrection could be launched.

In spite of their vigor, however, they were lacking in homogeneity, revolutionary experience, and ideological preparation. This made them easy prey to political parties with uncertain revolutionary ideas. Although it was a minority organization, the Bolshevik Party was the only really organized revolutionary force which knew where it was going. It had no rivals on the extreme left in either the political or the trade-union field. It had first-class cadres at its disposal, & set in motion, as Voline admitted, "a feverish, overwhelming, fierce activity."

The party machine, however - of which Stalin was at that time an obscure ornament - had always regarded the soviets with suspicion as embarrassing competitors. Immediately after the seizure of power, the spontaneous & irresistible tendency toward the socialization of production was, at first, channeled through workers' control. A decree of November 14, 1917, legalized the participation of workers in the management of enterprises & the fixing of prices; it abolished trade secrets, & compelled the employers to publish their correspondence and their accounts. According to Victor Serge, "the leaders of the Revolution did not intend to go beyond this." In April 1918 they "still intended . . . to set up mixed companies with shares, in which the Soviet State & Russian & foreign capital would all participate." "The initiative for measures of expropriation came from the masses & not from authority."

As early as October 20, 1917, at the first Congress of Factory Councils, a motion inspired by anarchism was presented. It proposed "control over production, & that control commissions should not be simply investigative bodies, but . . . from this moment on cells of the future preparing to transfer production to the hands of the workers." "In the very early days of the October Revolution," Anna Pankratova [22] reported, "anarchist tendencies were the more easily & successfully manifested, because the capitalists put up the liveliest resistance to the enforcement of the decree on workers' control & actually refused workers' participation in production."

Workers' control in effect soon showed itself to be a half measure, halting & inefficient. The employers sabotaged it, concealed their stocks, removed tools, challenged or locked out the workers; sometimes they used the factory committees as simple agents or aides to management; they even thought it profitable to try to have their firms nationalized. The workers responded to these maneuvers by seizing the factories & running them for their own benefit. "We ourselves will not send the owners away," the workers said in their resolutions, "but we will take charge of production if they will not insure that the factories function." Anna Pankratova adds that, in this first period of "chaotic" & "primitive" socialization, the factory councils "frequently took over the management of factories whose owners had been dismissed or had fled."

Workers' control soon had to give place to socialization. Lenin literally did violence to his more timorous lieutenants by throwing them into the "crucible of living popular creativity," by obliging them to speak in authentic libertarian language. The basis of revolutionary reconstruction was to be workers' self-management. It alone could arouse in the masses such revolutionary enthusiasm that the impossible would become possible. When the last manual worker, any unemployed person, any cook, could see the factories, the land, the administration in the hands of associations of workers, of employees, of officials, of peasants; rationing in the hands of democratic committees, etc.; all created spontaneously by the people - "when the poor see & feel that, there will be no force able to defeat the social revolution." The future seemed to be opening up for a republic of the type of the Commune of 1871, a republic of soviets.

According to Voline's account, "in order to catch the imagination of the masses, gain their confidence & their sympathy, the Bolshevik Party announced . . . slogans which had up tin then been characteristic . . . of anarchism." All power to the soviets was a slogan which the masses intuitively understood in the libertarian sense. Peter Archinoff reported that "the workers interpreted the idea of soviet power as that of their own right to dispose of themselves socially and economically." At the Third Congress of Soviets, at the beginning of 1918, Lenin declared: "Anarchist ideas have now taken on living form." Soon after, at the Seventh Party Congress, March ~8, he proposed for adoption theses which dealt among other things with the socialization of production administered by workers' organizations (trade unions, factory committees, etc.); the abolition of officials in charge of manual trades, of the police & the army; the equality of salaries & remuneration; the participation of all members of the soviets in management & administration of the State; the complete elimination by stages of the said State & of the use of money. At the Trade-Union Congress (spring 1918), Lenin described the factories as "self-governing communes of producers & consumers." The anarcho-syndicalist Maximoff goes so far as to maintain that "the Bolsheviks had not only abandoned the theory of the gradual withering away of the State, but Marxist ideology in general. They had become some kind of anarchists."

AN AUTHORITARIAN REVOLUTION This audacious alignment with the instinct of the masses & their revolutionary temper may have succeeded in giving the Bolsheviks command over the revolution, but had nothing to do with their traditional ideology or their real intentions. They had been authoritarians for a long time, & were imbued with ideas of the State, of dictatorship, of : ':__': , of a ruling party, of management of the economy from above, of all things which were in flagrant contradiction with a really libertarian conception of soviet democracy.

State & Revolution was written on the eve of the October insurrection & mirrors the ambivalence of Lenin's thoughts. Some pages might have been written by a libertarian and, as we have seen above [23], some credit at least is given to the anarchists. However, this call for a revolution from below runs parallel to a statement of the case for a revolution from above. Concepts of a hierarchical, centralized state system are not half concealed afterthoughts but, on the contrary, are frankly expressed: the State will survive the conquest of power by the proletariat & will wither away only after a transitional period. How long is this purgatory to last? This is not concealed; we are told rather with relief than with regret that the process will be "slow," & "of long duration." Under the guise of soviet power, the revolution will bring forth the "proletarian State," or "dictatorship of the proletariat"; the writer even lets slip the expression "bourgeois State without the bourgeoisie," just when he is revealing his inmost thoughts. This omnivorous State surely intends to take everything over.

Lenin took a lesson from contemporary German state capitalism, the Kriegswirtschaft (war economy). Another of his models was the organization of modern large-scale industry by capitalism, with its "iron discipline." He was particularly entranced by a state monopoly such as the posts & telegraphs & exclaimed: "What an admirably perfected mechanism! The whole of economic life organized like the postal services, . . . that is the State, that is the economic base which we need." To seek to do without "authority" & "subordination" is an "anarchist dream," he concluded. At one time he had waxed enthusiastic over the idea of entrusting production & exchange to workers' associations & to self-management. But that was a misdeal. Now he did not hide his magic prescription: all citizens becoming "employees and workers of one universal single state trust," the whole of society converted into "one great office and one great factory." There would be soviets, to be sure, but under the control of the workers' party, a party whose historic task it is to "direct" the proletariat. The most clear-minded Russian anarchists were not misled by this view. At the peak of Lenin's libertarian period they were already warning the workers to be on their guard: in their journal, Golos Truda (The Voice of Labor), in the last months of 1917 & early in 1918 Voline wrote the following prophetic warning:

"Once they have consolidated & legalized their power, the Bolsheviks - who are socialists, politicians, & believers in the State, that is to say, centralist and authoritarian men of action - will begin to arrange the life of the country & the people by governmental & dictatorial means imposed from the centers .... Your soviets . . . will gradually become simply executive organs of the will of the central government.... An authoritarian political state apparatus will be set up and, acting from above, it will seek to crush everything with its iron fist . . . Woe betide anyone who is not in agreement with the central authority.

"All power to the soviets will become in effect the authority of the party leaders."

It was Voline's view that it was the increasingly anarchist tendencies of the masses which obliged Lenin to turn away from his original path for a time. He would allow the State, authority, the dictatorship, to remain only for an hour, for a short moment. & then would come "anarchism." "But, good God, do you not foresee . . . what citizen Lenin will say when real power has been consolidated & it has become possible not to listen any more to the voice of the masses?'' Then he will come back to the beaten path. He will create "a Marxist State," of the most complete type.

It would, of course, be risky to maintain that Lenin & his team consciously set a trap for the masses. There was more doctrinal dualism in them than deliberate duplicity. The contradiction between the two poles of their thought was so obvious, so flagrant, that it was to be foreseen that it would soon impinge upon events. Either the anarchist trend & the pressure of the masses would oblige the Bolsheviks to forget the authoritarian aspect of their concepts, or, on the contrary, the consolidation of their power, coinciding with the exhaustion of the people's revolutionary upsurge, would lead them to put aside their transitory anarchist thoughts.

A new factor then made its appearance, disturbing the balance of the issues in question: the terrible circumstances of the civil war & the foreign intervention, the disorganization of transport, the shortage of technicians. These things drove the Bolshevik leaders to emergency measures, to dictatorship, to centralization, & to recourse to the "iron fist." The anarchists, however, denied that these were the result simply of objective causes external to the Revolution. In their opinion they were due in part to the internal logic of the authoritarian ideas of Bolshevism, to the weakness of an overcentralized & excessively bureaucratic authority. According to Voline, it was, among other things, the incompetence of the State, & its desire to direct & control everything, that made it incapable of reorganizing the economic life of the country & led to a real "breakdown"; that is, to the paralysis of industry, the ruin of agriculture, & the destruction of all connections between the various branches of the economy.

As an example, Voline told the story of the former Nobel oil refinery at Petrograd. It had been abandoned by its owners & its 4,000 workers decided to operate it collectively. They addressed themselves to the Bolshevik government in vain. Then they tried to make the plant work on their own initiative. They divided themselves into mobile groups & tried to find fuel, raw materials, outlets, & means of transport. With regard to the latter they had actually begun discussions with their comrades among the railwaymen. The government became angry, feeling that its responsibility to the country prevented it from allowing each factory to act independently. The workers' council persisted & called a general assembly of the workers. The People's Commissar of Labor took the trouble to give a personal warning to the workers against a "serious act of insubordination." He castigated their attitude as "anarchistic and egotistical." He threatened them with dismissal without compensation. The workers retorted that they were not asking for any privileges: the government should let t